Second, there is no cost to the person who receives a gift. The fact that grace is a gift means that nothing is owed in return. This is an important analogy because it teaches us some key things about grace:įirst, anyone who has ever received a gift understands that a gift is much different from a loan, which requires repayment or return by the recipient.
The Bible repeatedly calls grace a “gift” (e.g., Ephesians 4:7). Jesus Christ is the embodiment of grace, coupled with truth (John 1:14). Paul repeatedly identified grace as the basis of his calling as an apostle (Romans 15:15 1 Corinthians 3:10 Ephesians 3:2, 7). Grace gives us “eternal encouragement and good hope” (2 Thessalonians 2:16). Grace gives us victory over sin (James 4:6). Grace is the essence of the gospel (Acts 20:24). Our souls were in peril of everlasting punishment.īut then came grace. Spiritually, we were destitute, blind, unclean, and dead. We were unrighteous (Romans 3:10) and without means of justifying ourselves (Romans 3:20). We were enemies of God (Romans 5:6, 10 8:7 Colossians 1:21), deserving of death (Romans 6:23a). We were born in sin (Psalm 51:5), and we were guilty of breaking God’s holy laws (Romans 3:9–20, 23 1 John 1:8–10). To fully understand grace, we need to consider who we were without Christ and who we become with Christ. Grace can be variously defined as “God’s favor toward the unworthy” or “God’s benevolence on the undeserving.” In His grace, God is willing to forgive us and bless us abundantly, in spite of the fact that we don’t deserve to be treated so well or dealt with so generously. Grace is closely related to God’s benevolence, love, and mercy. Grace is an essential part of God’s character. The gospel message is the good news of God’s grace, so it is important to know what grace is and to constantly seek to get a better view of what grace does in our lives.
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